In
sportA Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s, a
Most Valuable Player (
MVP)
awardAn award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests. Initially used in professional sports, the term is now also commonly used in amateur sports, as well as in other completely unrelated fields of endeavor such as
businessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
awards.
The term "Most Valuable Player" is typically only used in
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and
South KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. In many sports, some MVP awards are presented just for a specific game or match (in other words, a
man of the matchIn sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
award), while others are awarded based on an entire season or year. The
gender neutralGender-neutral language, gender-inclusive language, inclusive language, or gender neutrality is linguistic prescriptivism that aims to eliminate reference to gender in terms that describe people...
term "Player of the Match" is usually substituted for "Man of the Match" in women's team competitions.
Specific North American examples include (first regular season, then playoffs):
- Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, World Series Most Valuable Player Award, and League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award
The second round of the Major League Baseball post-season is known as the League Championship Series . This series has a best-of-seven playoff format, and currently follows the Division Series, in which the three division champions and one wild card team from each league play against each other...
- National Football League Most Valuable Player Award and Super Bowl MVP Award
The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, or Super Bowl MVP, is an award presented annually to the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, the National Football League's championship game. The winner is chosen by a fan vote during the game and by a panel of 16 American football writers and...
- National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
Hart Memorial TrophyThe Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...
(regular season) and Conn Smythe TrophyThe Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 46 times to 40 players since the 1964–65 NHL season...
(playoffs)
- National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award
The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1955–56 NBA season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement...
and Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award
- Major League Soccer MVP and MLS Cup MVP
One award commonly referred to as an "MVP" award, despite the fact that its official name does not match the "MVP" initialism:
- NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships , the Associated Press selects a Most Outstanding Player. The MOP need not be, but almost always is a member of the Championship team, especially since the third place game was eliminated after 1981...
Award
'In Cricket'
- Most valuable player rating by cricketworld.com
- Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
,
In the
Australian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, the term "
best and fairestBest and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...
" is more commonly used than "most valuable player" for the equivalent award on a season basis, and "best on ground" (BOG) is more commonly used for a single-match award. The "
VFL/AFL Players Association Most Valuable PlayerThe Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. It is named in honour of Leigh Matthews, who won the first MVP award in 1982, when the league was still known as the Victorian Football League...
", is the only award in the league to have used the "MVP" initialism.
Recently online reviews and polls are also taken. The McGrane Tournament calls their MVP the Joe Harenza Award. In the
Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
they also have the
CFL's Most Outstanding Player AwardThe Most Outstanding Player Award is annually awarded to the best player in the Canadian Football League. The Most Outstanding Player award can be compared to the National Football League's Most Valuable Player, otherwise known as the "MVP" award...
and Most Outstanding Canadian Player Award (regular season) and the
Grey Cup Most Valuable PlayerThe Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player award is awarded annually to the player deemed to have the best performance in the Grey Cup Game, the Canadian Football League's championship game.-Grey Cup Most Valuable Player Award winners:...
(playoffs). The
Philippine Basketball AssociationThe Philippine Basketball Association , is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 10 company-branded franchised teams. It is the first and oldest professional basketball league in Asia and the second oldest in the world after the NBA...
also awards its own
Most Valuable AwardThe Philippine Basketball Association awards the Most Valuable Player award at the end of the season. The winner is selected via votes from the press, players, coaches and top PBA officials....
.
Non-sports uses
The
National Academy of Recording Arts and SciencesThe National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
makes "Most Valuable Player" awards annually in a number of instrumental categories.
MVP is often used in business to designate a valued employee. In this context, sometimes the "P" in "MVP" is something other than "Player." So, for example,
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
uses MVP to mean Most Valuable Professional. The term is applied to recognized, credible, and accessible individuals with expertise in one or more Microsoft products who actively participate in online and offline communities to share their knowledge and expertise with other Microsoft customers.
E-Sports uses
It is also used in video game terms, such as the games Call of Duty 4 and
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on...
contain challenges to kill the "MVP" of the opposing team a certain amount of times and
Halo 3Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
to mean the person with the highest score or amount of kills. In
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Riftis a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS handheld game console.Grimoire of the Rift is the sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as well as an iteration in the Ivalice Alliance.- Gameplay :...
an MVP title is awarded to a character at the end of each battle based on how well they performed the role of their job. The MVP system is also used in MAG,
Team Fortress 2Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
.